Traditions and Laws

by    23rd September 2009    1 response
Part of the series

marathon

Image: Martineric @ Flickr

Mark 2:23-28   Expand passage

23One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

25He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."

27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

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My wife and I recently moved house, moving into an area of the country that was completely new to us. So far we’re loving the Somerset countryside and the quiet life it brings. One of the challenges we faced as we began to settle in was finding a church. Being in the middle of nowhere there wasn’t a huge range to choose from – there was the local parish church at the end of our road (well attended but mostly by retired folk), or there was a much larger Anglican church in the nearest town. We opted for the latter in the end, favouring its wider range of service styles and plenty of youth work going on.

It’s been almost three months now, and we still face a weekly problem – where to sit. I feel we haven’t quite claimed a space yet; we’re still flirting with the seating arrangements to find ‘our place’ in the church. And all the while we’re conscious that we don’t want to steal someone else’s place. This isn’t a unique problem, I’m sure it happens in almost every church in some form or other, and you’ve probably come across it yourself. Seats in the church are silently ‘owned’, like an unwritten rule, and it’s a social no-no to inconvenience a regular member by taking their place.

As Jesus walked through the grain fields he and his disciples helped themselves to a quick snack. Actually there’s nothing wrong in that, because there are passages in the Old Testament about farmers leaving portions of their field unharvested so that passers-by and those less well off can scratch a bit of sustenance. What the following Pharisees were complaining about was that Jesus was harvesting the grain on the Sabbath, which counted as working on the Sabbath, which was forbidden by the Law. What Jesus pointed out to them was that that law had been turned into a tradition, which had allowed them to forget the purpose of the original law. The Pharisees kept the letter of the law, without exception, which as Jesus explained isn’t quite how the law was intended to be used.

So what about the traditions we follow today? What about the seating arrangements in our churches? How do we know whether a law has become a misunderstood tradition?

1. What was the original purpose?

We’re probably all fairly familiar with the Ten Commandments, and may remember that the fourth one says “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy”. I think there were two main reasons that God included this in the Ten Commandments. Firstly, it was there to act as a weekly reminder of God’s act of creation, echoing God’s resting on the seventh day, remembering God’s authority and power by making a day each week a regular celebration. It was supposed to be like Christmas or Easter, just every week. The second reason was to make sure we didn’t wear ourselves out. God created us, so knew that working seven days a week without stopping wasn’t going to be good for us, and having a day off work would actually mean we’d have more energy the following week.

The Pharisees took this idea and got caught up in legalism, so that no one could do anything on the Sabbath, no matter what it was. In reality, Jesus grabbing a snack from the field wasn’t work, rather it was a way of replenishing his energy, which is actually far closer to the original purpose of the commandment. Restricting our actions by ‘following the law’ turned out to be counter-productive, focusing people’s minds on the law rather than God.

2. When was it started, and is it still applicable now?

The Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites not long after they had started their 40 year mystery tour of the desert. Now, wandering for miles in the sand is tiring enough as it is, but when you add in the problem of doing business, looking after flocks, cooking, raising children, training men for battle, doing the washing, making and maintaining tents, and a myriad of other daily tasks, you’re looking at one seriously tiring routine. I find it hard enough to make time for God in my daily life, and I’m sat at a computer nearly all the time, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Israelites found themselves so busy as to forget God every so often. So the commandment gave them an excuse to stop, to rest their weary limbs and recover, to give them time to remember God again, if only once a week.

Is that still a good plan for us today? Of course it is. Taking a day off work each week to spend time with God is a great starting point. But does it have to be Sunday? Not necessarily, although there are good reasons to keep it to that day, but that’s a topic for another time. What’s key to remember, though, is that the commandment was put in place as a lower limit, not an upper restriction. God wants us to spend a day a week with him, but if you choose to spend more than one day a week with him that’s even better! The commandment isn’t like a speed limit, after all, it’s more like a minimum wage. If you start thinking about the commandments legalistically, taking it word for word and interpreting it literally, you’ll end up making the same mistakes the Pharisees did.

3. Is it helpful?

There are some professions where working on a Sunday is required. We expect doctors and nurses to be available throughout the week, Sundays included, and church leaders almost always work on Sundays. If absolutely everyone took Sunday off work to spend time with God, our churches would indeed be full, but there would be no one to lead the church and the infrastructure of our society would fall to pieces. And of course some people might feel guilty about taking time off when they could be using their time better by serving others.

Everything we do should point to God. If we find ourselves feeling guilty because we haven’t followed the letter of the law, I think we’re missing the point. The Law is there to set us free, not to imprison us or make us feel bad. If Jesus and his disciples hadn’t eaten from the field, they would have been hungry (none of them were earning a wage, after all); I don’t know about you, but I find it harder to focus on God when my stomach is empty!

If you are following a tradition without understanding its purpose or meaning, it becomes empty. Reciting the Apostles’ Creed won’t strengthen your faith if you don’t understand the words. And there is absolutely no point in being baptised or confirmed just because all your friends are. If you’re not clear on a tradition you follow, ask someone about it, learn its history, and then decide whether it’s right to continue following it. Ask the questions above about it, and see how it fares. You may find that it is right to have a regular seat in your church. Or you may not.

Here are some more things to think about:

  • Should we follow a tradition without understanding it, trusting in whoever started it to be right?
  • Is one day at church a week enough?
  • Does our Sabbath day have to be on Sunday? And does it have to be spent at church?
  • Are there things that we think are traditions, but are actually laws? Where do we draw the line between treating the law as an explicit instruction and a good recommendation? Are issues like sexual immorality just traditions that we can undo, or commands that have to be followed?

One Response

  1. Claire
    September 25, 2009 at 4:00 am

    Thought provoking. Thank you.
    Claire

    Reply

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Matthew has long had a strong involvement with Christian websites. He was a keen contributor to the original Crossring site, and subsequently launched his own website, Focus On Faith. Focus On Faith was incorporated into Crossring in September 2009, and Matthew took on the role of lead writer for the site. Matthew works as a web designer, and lives in the West Country with his wife, Ellie.

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